When the Boyertown High track season began, Dylan Eddinger noticed all of the school track records posted on the locker room wall. Immediately he set his sights on the 800 meter run record set over 20 years ago by Kevin Heacock. The time of 1:54 was one Dylan knew was within his reach, so that was his goal.
At the District 3-AAA meet in Coatesville, he reached that goal when he turned in a time of 1:53.6. One week later, he broke his own record at the PIAA state meet with a time of 1:51.9. It not only secured a school record for Eddinger, it also got him a state medal.
Dylan was introduced to Kevin Heacock at the PAC-10 Championship Meet, He was hoping to set the record there. He ran a 4.14 in the mile, which tired him out for the 800.
“He was excited for me,” said Eddinger about Heacock. “He told me that my races look great out there and wished me the best of luck for the next two weeks.”
The competition at the district meet was top notch according to Dylan. He feels that District one is the best in the state. The numbers tell the stoyr. The top three finishers in the district meet were also the top three finishers in the state mee
Dylan will admit that he was a little nervous going into the 800 run at the district meet because of being tired from the 1600. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to perform like he had wanted to. “When I get to the line I can push a lot of things aside and run a race,” said Eddinger.
As was the case at the PAC-10 meet, Eddinger ran the mile before running the 800 meter run at the district 1-AAA meet. He’ll was a little tired from the mile run, and he wasn’t sure how he would do in the 800.
“I told myself that I was going to give it all I have for that 800, and hopefully be surprised by the results,” said Eddinger. “I was satisfied. I came away with a school record and a new PR (personal record) in the same day after placing fourth in the 1600 meter run.
He saw his official time and knew that he had broken the record.
“My first reaction was happiness. It was a good feeling,” said Eddinger. Dylan called his family right away and shared the good news. But his task was not yet complete – he still had the state meet the following week.
At the state meet, Eddinger was completing in just one event – the 800. By participating in one event, he was able to focus on just that race. Dylan said wasn’t that nervous at the state meet, he could concentrate on just his favorite event, and he could go into it with fresh legs. The result was his second record in as many weeks.
Dylan wasn’t sure if her he had broken his own record when he crossed the finish line. Once he heard the time, he knew that it was a good race.
Eddinger was even happier when he found out that he broke the school record for a second time. He saw his coaches looking at him from the stands, smiling at him.
“It was such a great feeling,” said Eddinger.
The new record helped to validate all the hard work Dylan put in this season. He gives a lot of the credit to his coaches who helped him, but his hard work and focus to rach his goal had a lot to do with it.
Dylan joins some very elite company of successful Boyertown runners like Mark Dennin, Jason Weller, Kevin Heacock and Brett Kelly ,just to name a few. Dylan feels very honor and proud to be mentioned with the likes of the guys that came before him and accomplished so much for the Boyertown High track program.
If you would have asked Dylan two years ago, or even a year ago, if he would ever be in that elite company, he probably would have told you no. Now,one of his coaches, Coach Joe McGlinchey, told him that he was very close to being in the same company of Weller, Dennin and Kelly.
The goal from the beginning of the spring season was to try and break the school record in the 800 meter run especially after setting a new school record in the 800 during the winter track season. “Beating it by that much, I was presently surprised,” said Eddinger.
One could say that Eddinger finished off his track career with quite a bang. He set a school record in his very last race.
“I guess it had to end at some point,” said Eddinger. “I’m just looking forward to running in college now.”
Now that his high school career is over, Dylan is moving on. He will be competing in cross country, winter track and spring track at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.
“I’m very excited to go to college,” said Eddinger. “I’m excited about being a part of the track program and the school itself.”